Spay & Neuter
Services
Thousands of pets are spayed or neutered each year at the AWS Community Veterinary Clinic in Kennebunk. In addition to providing surgeries to our resident pets, we offer affordable spay/neuter services for dogs, cats and rabbits belonging to members of our community.
We can spay or neuter your pet
Spay/neuter surgeries are by appointment only and take place Monday – Friday. You drop off your pets in the morning and pick them up the same day (afternoon). Please visit our pre-op and post-op care page for more information on what to expect on your pet’s surgery day.
We offer a two-tiered pricing system for our spay/neuter services: Community Pricing and our Companion Program, based on income qualifications. Donations to the Companions for Life Fund support the Companion Program.
Spay/Neuter Pricing
| Community Pricing | Companion Program | |
|---|---|---|
| FELINE | $200 | $150 |
| CANINE | ||
| —50 lbs or less | $360 | $270 |
| —51-89 lbs | $390 | $292.50 |
| —90-124 lbs | $425 | $318.75 |
| —125 lbs and above | $500 | $375 |
| RABBITS | ||
| (on a case by case basis) | $250 | $187.50 |
*All prices subject to change without notification. Please speak to a Clinic staff member directly for the most up to date information*
Cats & Kittens
Scheduling & Details
- Kittens must be at least 2 pounds and at least 8 weeks old for surgery.
- Cats can be spayed if they are in heat.
- For cats older than 7 years, we complete NSAID bloodwork ($50) to ensure healthy liver & kidney function on the day of the surgery.
- Spay/neuter pricing includes the surgery, rabies vaccination, nail trim and flea preventative.
- Additional services available at time of surgery – see below.
Dogs & Puppies
Scheduling Details
- Puppies must be at least 8 weeks old for surgery.
- If your dog is currently in heat, we prefer to wait until at least 6 weeks after the current heat cycle to perform surgery.
- For dogs older than 7 years, we complete NSAID bloodwork ($50) to ensure healthy liver & kidney function on the day of the surgery.
- For female dogs over 10 years of age and/or 70+ pounds, a pre-surgical consultation ($70) is required.
- Spay/neuter pricing includes the surgery, rabies vaccination, nail trim, e-collar and three days worth of pain medication post-op.
- Additional services available at time of surgery – see below.
Surgeries for MALE dogs who are 40 pounds or less can be booked online. If your dog is a female or your dog is a male who is more than 40 pounds, please call to make your appointment.
Rabbits
Scheduling Details
- Rabbits are sensitive animals so we’d like to discuss surgery options with you before scheduling an appointment.
- Male rabbits must be fully developed to be neutered. This can be as early as 8 weeks. Give us a call to discuss how you can tell if and when your young male rabbit is ready.
- Female rabbits must be 9 months old for a spay surgery.
- Spay/neuter pricing includes the surgery, nail trim and three days worth of pain medication post-op.
Additional Services
These optional services are available at the time of your pet’s spay/neuter surgery.
| ADDITIONAL SERVICES | PRICING |
|---|---|
| Nail Trim | Free |
| Canine E-Collar | Free |
| Feline E-Collar | $10 |
| Microchip | $25 |
| Feline Parasite Prevention Application (Selamectin) | Free |
| Capstar | $10 |
| Tapeworm Treatment | $15-$25 (by weight) |
| Rabies Vaccine | Free (required if no proof of rabies vaccine is provided) |
| Feline Distemper Vaccine | $30 |
| Canine Distemper Vaccine | $30 |
*All prices subject to change without notification. Please speak to a Clinic staff member directly for the most up to date information*
Specialty Programs
These specialty programs are intended to provide qualified individuals and rescue groups with resources to spay/neuter the dogs and cats in their care.
(These programs may have limited availability, due to available funding and capacity)
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)
For feral and free roaming cats trapped in Maine, we offer spay/neuter services (also known as trap-neuter-return) at no cost to caretakers.
Mother Spay Program
If your female dog or cat is expecting or just had babies, we can help through our Mother Spay Program.
Spay/Neuter Rescue Partners Program
AWS’ Community Veterinary Clinic offers high-volume spay/neuter services to rescues, shelters and community cat programs.
Help Fix Me Vouchers
AWS Community Veterinary Clinic accepts Help Fix Me vouchers, which reduce the cost of spay/neuter services to qualified individuals.
Frequently Asked Questions
AWS Community Veterinary Clinic is a full-service practice, offering high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter services. Please review these common questions for more information about our spay/neuter services.
Spaying or neutering your pet is a personal decision. It has many benefits including:
- reduced risk of cancer (specifically reproductive cancers)
- reduction of undesirable behaviors such as marking and roaming
- no heat cycles
- no unexpected litters*
* Most female dogs and cats easily manage pregnancy, but health complications can arise, not to mention the stress and financial burden of caring for and finding homes for the litter.
Research shows that fixed pets actually live longer, have fewer health issues and have a higher quality of life. So if you aren’t planning on breeding your pet, spaying/neutering makes for a happier pet and a happier family.
No. Spaying your female pet before her first heat cycle eliminates the risk of mammary cancer in dogs and cats. The longer a female goes unspayed, the greater the risk of developing mammary cancer or pyometra. Pyometra is an infection of the uterus which can result in a very rapid decline in health and requires an expensive emergency surgery. Pyometra can be fatal if not treated quickly.
State law requires all pets adopted from animal shelters be spayed or neutered. It is safe to spay/neuter a pet as young as 8 weeks, provided they are at least 2 lbs. So if you adopted your pet, their spay/neuter surgery is all taken care of. If you do have an intact pet, the optimal age in which they should be fixed can differ based on many factors. Relevant factors can include age, sex, breed, lifestyle, animal’s role (family dog vs working dog, for example) and personal preferences.
In fact, if you have a regular veterinarian, we encourage you to consult with them prior to scheduling an appointment at our Clinic. Or you can schedule a spay/neuter consultation with the AWS Community Clinic if you would like to learn more.
Speaking to a veterinarian is paramount, but in the meantime, you can learn more by consulting this chart (AAHA Chart), which provides a suggested roadmap for when to neuter a dog. There are also many academic articles and research studies on this topic. A excellent summary of this research can be found here: Optimal Age for Spay/Neuter Surgery.
Spay/neuter is a day surgery, meaning the pet doesn’t need to stay overnight at our Clinic. Pets are given pain medication as part of the procedure and dogs and rabbits go home with additional pain medication. Neuter is typically a quicker recovery than a spay, but most young female and male cats and dogs are feeling fine the next day. Adult mother cats/dogs will need a little more rest time to heal but are generally feeling better in a few days.
Yes! Did you know kittens can go into heat as young as 4-6 months? They can get pregnant during their first heat and will go into heat as often as every two weeks all year long.
No. If your dog is currently in heat, veterinarians prefer to wait until at least 6 weeks after the current heat cycle to perform her spay. Consult a veterinary professional for more information.
In addition to the benefits listed above, even if your pet is indoor only, there’s no guarantee that your pet won’t get pregnant or impregnate another animal. Your pet could easily sneak out an open door or window or slip a lead when on a walk. In fact, intact pets are more likely to get loose because their instincts have them searching for a mate.
Contrary to popular belief, pets can be spayed or neutered at any age, as long as they are healthy enough to undergo surgery. To determine this, blood work must be done in advance to ensure healthy liver & kidney function on the day of the surgery. This blood work is standard for any type of surgery for pets over seven. If your pet is healthy, there is no reason to hold off on altering them. While it’s true that younger pets may experience faster recoveries and fewer complications, older pets benefit from spaying and neutering as well. At any age, it can improve their quality of life and decrease their risk of cancer and illness.
High-quality, high-volume spay/neuter (HQHVSN) is the cornerstone of veterinary clinics like ours, where the focus is on shelter medicine and community care. HQHVSN is designed to meet or exceed veterinary care standards and make it easier and more affordable for people to get their pets altered. With this model, one veterinarian and support staff spay or neuter 30-40 pets in one day. All of AWS’ veterinarians are skilled in HQHVSN and approach all spay/neuter surgeries, whether on shelter pets or those belonging to community members, with the efficiencies and quality of HQHVSN.
Questions about our spay/neuter services?
For more information, please contact member of our Clinic team via email or telephone at (207) 292-2424.
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